Record number of new moms have been to college

Comments

I am not aware of a backward culture in the Church that says
a women's education is inferior to a man's. Most BYU coeds drop out
after getting married because it takes a wage earner to support the family; they
will do it now and their husband will take over after he graduates.

My daughter still graduated after getting married. My wife walked across the
stage to get her degree at 8 1/2 months pregnant with our third child. It took
her a while to finish, but I supported her in that goal and she made it. (I had
my degree a few years before I met her.)

Education is important in
our family to both genders and each child of ours is going to get a college
degree, as are all their spouses. Brigham Young said (if I have it correct)
that if he could only educate part of his children it would be his daughters.

Keeping out of debt and not realizing the value of an education are
two separate things, which should not be confused. One can also get a degree
and not go into huge debt; it just takes longer.

Barbara WylyGuilford, IN

May 11, 2013 3:27 p.m.

My mother always said that when you educate a man, you educate one person. When
you educate a woman, you educate a family. I have a law degree and have had
many different majors. I never learned anything in college that did not help me
be a better wife and mother. My son has an MBA, my daughter (mother of two) is
a teacher and applying to grad school, and my other son is at BYU majoring in
neuropsychology. I am as proud of their accomplishments as I am of my own! It
was a win fr everyone!

chinookdoctorPASADENA, CA

May 11, 2013 2:04 p.m.

I wonder why, given what we know about college education for women and how it
impacts their children in a positive way, we still see this backward culture in
the church that says that women's education is less important than
men's. We also continue to see young women at BYU dropping out when they
get married, not when they have their first child, but when they get married
because their husbands want to go to dental school, law school, medical school,
you name it! What are we teaching our young women about their roles as mothers
and how education fits into that? I've heard young women and their parents
downplay the importance of investing in girl's post-secondary education
because they, "are going to be moms; they don't need to go into debt
for schooling." Along with that type of comment has always been a
discussion about the relative unimportance of anything beyond a BA for women who
value motherhood--as if somehow those of us with college and beyond despise our
children and motherhood. I think we need to change this culture, it is
damaging.